Murder defendant faces son on witness stand
Jan. 10, 2019
"BRIDGETON – The 14-year-old son of murder defendant Jeremiah E. Monell testified for more than an hour on Thursday, providing a graphic account of watching his father choke and then stab to death his mother as she lay helpless on her living-room floor....
The Daily Journal is using initials to identify the son because of his age.
JWM took the stand twice on Thursday, first in an unsuccessful prosecution move to introduce evidence about a prior domestic violence incident. That incident, in April 2016, resulted in a restraining order against Monell, one he allegedly violated by going to the victim’s home the day she was murdered.
“How was your mother laying when your dad stabbed her?” county Assistant Prosecutor Charles J. Wettstein asked.
“Full on the ground. Just shocked and just not moving, really,” JWM replied.
“What do you remember seeing?” Wettstein asked.
“My father stabbing her, and that’s all I saw,” he said. “I looked away.”
After that, the boy said, he just heard “the gushing of him stabbing” his mother. He retreated to his bed, getting under his blanket and crying.
The boy appeared to avoid looking at his father while on the stand, except when asked to name the person he saw attack his mother and to point out his father as that man. The defendant was restrained but watched his son...."
Murder defendant faces son on witness stand
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